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Variability in Records Requests Obscures Police Use of Surveillance
by Anthony W. Accurso
An effort by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) to track police use of surveillance technologies is butting up against the decentralized nature of our law enforcement networks in that open-records requests to different agencies for the same information result in wildly variable information — …
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More from this issue:
- False Confession Generator: How Accusatorial Interrogations Undermine the Pursuit of Justice, by Anthony Accurso
- Arizona Supreme Court Announces Jury Unanimity Required Regarding Narcotic Type Under Possession Statute, by Anthony Accurso
- Against the Flow: How the National Registry of Exonerations Is Working to Turn the Tide of Wrongful Convictions Across U.S., by Benjamin Tschirhart
- Ninth Circuit Announces District Courts May Consider First Step Act’s Non-Retroactive Changes to Sentencing Law When Deciding Motion for Compassionate Release, by Douglas Ankney
- Across the Nation, Cops Use ‘Fog Reveal’ to Track More Than 250 Million Mobile Devices, by Douglas Ankney
- First Circuit Reverses Denial of Habeas Relief Where District Court Found Batson Error but Observed AEDPA, Deferred to State Court’s Finding that No Batson Error Occurred, by Douglas Ankney
- Federal Habeas Corpus: How to Raise an Actual Innocence Claim, by Dale Chappell
- Second Circuit Announces District Courts Must Provide Habeas Petitioners with Notice and Opportunity To Be Heard Before Dismissing Petition Sua Sponte Based on Stone’s Limitation on Fourth Amendment Claims, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Criminal Record Alone Does Not Justify Patfrisk, Gun Discovered in Waistband Suppressed, by Jacob Barrett
- Third Circuit: Defendant Entitled to Reasonable Opportunity to File Sentencing Memo Before Resentencing Under First Step Act, by David Reutter
- Fifth Circuit Denies Absolute Immunity for Prosecutor Who Fabricated Evidence in Murder Conviction and Death Sentence, by Douglas Ankney
- Prosecutors in These States Can Review Sentences They Deem Extreme. Few Do., by Charlie Lee, Matt Nadel
- Fourth Circuit Announces Substantive Reasonableness Review Applies to All Proceedings Under § 404 of First Step Act, Regardless of Whether Motion Is Granted or Denied, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit Announces Criminal Forfeiture Under Fed. R. Crim. P. 32.2(b) Is Mandatory Claims-Processing Rule, Reverses $62.5 Million Money Judgments, by Douglas Ankney
- Colorado Supreme Court: Police Officer’s ‘Hunches’ Cannot Establish Probable Cause, Determination Requires Consideration of Facts Weighing in Favor and Against Probable Cause, by Anthony Accurso
- Kentucky Supreme Court Announces Obtaining Real-Time CSLI Data Constitutes a Search Under Fourth Amendment, Addressing Legal Question U.S. Supreme Court Explicitly Left Open in Carpenter, by Anthony Accurso
- New York Court of Appeals Reverses Murder Conviction Where Trial Court’s Evidentiary Rulings Deprived Defendant of ‘Opportunity to Present Complete Defense’, by Douglas Ankney
- Miami Police Officer Who Broke ‘Blue Code of Silence’ Being Investigated, by Casey Bastian
- Eighth Circuit: District Court Erred in Denying Government’s Motion to Dismiss Charges as Part of Plea Agreement, by David Reutter
- NIST’s Upgrade to Software Reference Library Makes Data More Accessible to Law Enforcement, by Douglas Ankney
- For $10 Billion, New Yorkers Get a Police Package Deal That Includes Corrupt Career Officers and Almost 1,000 Criminal Cases Tossed, by Douglas Ankney
- Indiana Supreme Court Announces Trial Rule 26(B)(3) Governs Whether Police Reports Are Protected Work Product, Expressly Overruling Keaton, by Douglas Ankney
- Variability in Records Requests Obscures Police Use of Surveillance, by Anthony Accurso
- U.S. Senator to Federal Agency: Investigate Abusive Use of Administrative Subpoena Power to Gather Bulk Financial Records, by Casey Bastian
- Fog Data Science, Your Hometown Data Broker, by Anthony Accurso
- Due Processless Civil Asset Forfeitures in Houston, Texas, by Edward Lyon
- News in Brief
More from Anthony Accurso:
- The Systematic Terror of Rankin County’s “Goon Squad”, May 1, 2026
- Virginia Prisoners Stuck Waiting for Education Programs, Feb. 1, 2026
- $939,000 for Nevada Prisoner Left in Wheelchair by Delayed Back Pain Treatment, Jan. 1, 2026
- Ninth Circuit Affirms Exclusion of Plea Agreement’s Factual Basis, Holding Unaccepted “Type A” Plea Agreement Unenforceable to Trigger Waiver of Rule 410 Protections, Dec. 15, 2025
- America’s Deadliest Jails: Tarrant County Edition, Nov. 1, 2025
- Seventh Circuit Dismisses Jail Detainee Suicide Case for Lack of Showing Deliberate Indifference, Nov. 1, 2025
- Protecting Your Digital Privacy, Oct. 15, 2025
- Idaho Supreme Court Announces Warrantless Search of Civilly Committed Individual Violates Fourth Amendment, Oct. 15, 2025
- Michigan Supreme Court Announces Guidance on Standards for Search Warrants of Cellphones to Satisfy Particularity Requirement of Fourth Amendment That “Reasonably Direct” Search to Uncovering Evidence of Criminal Activity Identified in Warrant, Oct. 15, 2025
- Sixth Circuit: Erlinger Error Requires Resentencing Where Government Cannot Prove Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Jury Would Find Prior Offenses Committed on Different “Occasions”, Oct. 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- Idaho Legislature Moves to Hide Execution Protocol from Judicial Scrutiny, Sept. 1, 2026. Disclosure of Records, Discovery, Public Records, State Legislation, Method of Execution.
- New Mexico Supreme Court Holds Corrections Department Regulations Do Not Exempt Use-Of-Force Documents from Public Records Disclosure, Aug. 1, 2026. Disclosure of Records, Public Records, Public Records Act, Statutory Construction/Interpretation, Authority and Jurisdiction.
- Surveillance for Sale: The Data Broker Loophole and the Fourth Amendment After Chatrie, July 1, 2026. Fourth Amendment, rights, Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance, Federal Funds, Tainted Funds.
- Ohio Jail Leaders Knew Cameras Were Broken for Four Years Before Fixing Them, July 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Security Systems, Disclosure of Records, Wrongful Death, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of.
- Passive Data Transforms Smart Devices Into Covert Witnesses in a Silent Surveillance State, July 1, 2026. Forensic Sciences, Police State-Surveillance, Searches - Cellphones/Computers/Internet, Electronic Surveillance, Exclusionary Rule.
- Florida Supreme Court Announces “Results” of Postconviction DNA Testing Under § 925.11 Include Underlying Testing Data Necessary for Expert Analysis, Holding That No Additional Burden Applies Once a Motion for Testing Has Been Granted, June 1, 2026. DNA Testing/Samples, Disclosure of Records, Public Records, Forensic Sciences, Scientific Testimony or Evidence.
- Ohio Supreme Court Rules that Sheriff Did Not Violate Open Records Act and Declines to Award Damages to Prisoner, June 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Contempt (Civil Procedure), Disclosure of Records, Public Records, Public Records Act.
- Oklahoma Supreme Court: Jail Trust Cannot Withhold Requested Records under Law Enforcement Exemption of ORA, May 1, 2026. Summary Judgment, Disclosure of Records, Public Records, Public Records Act, Statutory Construction/Interpretation.
- Beyond Geofence Warrants: Chatrie, Reverse-Location Surveillance, and the Fourth Amendment Fight Over Digital Dragnets, May 1, 2026. Police State-Surveillance, Cell-Phone Location/Tracking Data, Cell Site Location Information ("CSLI"), Electronic Surveillance.
- The “Free Trial” Police State, March 1, 2026. Police State-Surveillance, Enforcement of Immigration Laws, Electronic Surveillance, Privacy Act/Rights, Use of Drones.





